Life as Art: This is 55
“I, too, am a painter.” — Antonio da Correggio (photo by Author on the eve of her 55th birthday)
Last fall, I participated in an amazing online journey called Transformational Teaching Online. TTO is a beautiful exploration of the power and practice of presencing. It models how to hold transformational space online and is led by two now dear friends, Natasha and Lorenz Sell, creators of a platform for online courses and a collective of heart-centered creators called Sutra. It is an experience I highly recommend, one that has a profound impact on how I show up and how I offer my gifts to the world.
We Are Each a Living Breathing Work of Art
In one of the TTO experiences, we were invited into a pair breakout for a presencing exercise with a stranger. We were prompted to gaze deeply at our partner and give voice to what we saw. It challenged us to move beyond our limiting beliefs — that we’re strangers, unknown to one another, so how can we possibly come up with things to say that are true about the other person? What if we’re completely off base? What if we get it wrong?
I was paired with a beautiful being named Olive Goh, someone whom I’d never met and knew nothing about. As I stared into her face on the Zoom screen, I found myself mesmerized— my initial awkwardness melting into deep presence and curiosity — taking in all of her with all of my senses, studying her as if she was a work of art. Because she was and is. I realized in that moment as I studied her and took in her exquisiteness, that each and every one of us is a work of art. A living, breathing masterpiece of our own creation and curation, one that is always perfectly imperfect and in progress in a life-long journey of creative self-expression.
What You See Is
I gave voice to what I sensed and felt from witnessing her and found myself with so much to say about a being previously unknown to me. Things that resonated deeply and rang true for her. Observations that were received with joy and gratitude. The joy of her sensing and feeling me sensing and feeling her.
Like a work of art, the way we see others is unique — unique to us in that moment. There is no right or wrong answer to what we see, sense, or feel. It is our subjective human experience, a precious gift of presencing, witnessing, and sharing our reflections when we have the courage to give voice to our intuitive inner knowing. A precious gift we offer that the recipient can receive or not as they wish.
Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
Even those we know or think we know are really strangers in a way because none of us are the same moment to moment. We are each an ever-changing tableau —a living, dynamic work of art worthy of witnessing and celebrating anew in each moment. And I the witnesser am different in each moment so my experience of a person over time is different because both of us are different. And though I cannot truly know a person any more than I can know what an artist intended to convey, I can tune into and presence with the work of art in front of me, with a loving and curious heart, and give voice to what I see, sense, and feel.
As with art, beauty and reality is in the eye of the beholder. A group of people witnessing the same piece of art or the same person in the same moment will each have their own unique experience of that being. Even the same two people witnessing each other over time if they are deeply present have the capacity to detect and curiously explore subtle shifts, nuances never before seen. A multiverse of me in a metaverse of we.
Darkness and Light: Loving and Integrating the Shadow
Like works of art, we are each both light and dark. If you take the dark colors out of a Rembrandt or a Vermeer, the light ones wouldn’t pop and you wouldn’t have art. Like the darker colors in our favorite works of art, our dark shadows and darker emotions enrich our appreciation of those on the lighter end of the spectrum. All are part of us always.
Our opportunity is to love, curiously explore, deeply witness and make space for our full color palette of human emotions and all aspects of our psyche. To make space in our hearts for all that we are — both the darkness and the light. Inviting shadow integration with the intention of wholeness.
On my journey of curiously exploring my darkness and light, I’m finding such resonance and grounding within myself and deeper, more authentic connection with others. The more I am able to be with and embrace all of me, the more I can be with and embrace all of those around me.
Life as Art, An Invitation
How amazing would life be if we met each person we encountered along our life’s journey as if a masterpiece, a great work of art in a museum? We have the opportunity to gaze at every being we meet with an open heart and mind in a loving curiosity, witnessing them as the exquisite creative expression of self that they are. Next time you find yourself amongst people known or unknown to you, gaze at them as you would if you were starting at a Picasso or a Duchamp or a Magritte and honor them with your presencing, your witnessing, and your reflections.
At 55, I, too, Am a Painter
The artist Correggio, witnessing a painting of the great master Raphael exclaimed, “I too am a painter”. He reminds us that no matter how many walking, talking masterpieces we encounter in a world of extraordinary accomplishment, beauty, we can each honor our place in it, honoring our own extraordinary nature.
At 55 (today!), I celebrate that:
I, too, am a painter.
I, too, am a painting.
I, too, am a masterpiece — a living, breathing, walking, talking, loving work of art.
And so too, are you.
If you would like a guide to help you bring to life the great work of art that is you, I’m here to help. Book a curious conversation with me to explore what the Vulnerability Doula can do for you.